Fugitive bounty hunter arrested in Fla.

Federal agents have arrested an unlicensed bounty hunter whose alleged apprehension techniques led to felony charges and a criminal investigation against a Spokane police officer.

Dennis Kariores, 42, was taken into custody today in Pensacola, Fla., on a $150,000 warrant for first-degree burglary, unlawful imprisonment and second-degree kidnapping, according to the U.S. Marshals.

The federal Gulf Coast Regional Task Force arrested Kariores after agents here learned he'd fled to Navarre, a small city just outside Pensacola.

Kariores called The Spokesman-Review Wednesday and said he planned to turn himself in.

Spokane police Officer Alan Edwards was suspended for two weeks for arranging a ruse with Kariores that involved using a fugitive to help them gain access to a home they were otherwise not legally authorized to enter. (Other law enforcement officers have admitted to working closely with Kariores. Read much more here.)

According to court documents, Kariores and licensed bond agents John P. McCormick, 43, and Eric W. Houchin, 40, unlawfully stayed inside a home in the 1100 block of North Nelson Street in February 2010 and grabbed a woman while trying to contact her husband for failing to uphold his bond agreement with All City Bail Bonds. The woman was not wanted by police, which meant the bondsmen had no authority to detain her.

The men are charged with first-degree burglary and unlawful imprisonment for the incident.

Charles E. Dasenbrock, 26, is charged with second-degree kidnapping, along with Kariores, for an Aug. 26, 2010, incident in which the men detained a fugitive at a home in Spokane Valley and transported him to Spokane, where Edwards arrested him. Prosecutors say neither had the authority to apprehend and transport the man against his will. McCormick, Houchin and Dasenbrock have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.

Kariores said he was only doing as the police told him.

Kariores, a convicted felon, applied for a recovery agent license with the state of Washington in March 2009 but was rejected.

In his application, he said he’s worked with police in Spokane County and North Idaho and has arrested more than 500 people in six years. “I am known as the guy to go to when they can’t find people, whether it be in Washington or out,” Kariores wrote.